Slick’s Nit-Picks: ThunderCats, Episode 112 – “Into The Astral Plane”

Lion-O has finally mastered sight beyond sight; but the sword shows him the same thing it did before. The spirit stone is in the Elephant village. The difference is that his adventures in The Forest of Magi Oar have taught him to look at the bigger picture. The stone is in the astral plane and the path to get there is through the hut in the village. If Lion-O can find the stone, the ThunderCats will have taken a huge step towards stopping Mumm-Ra. Of course, things are never going to be quite that easy.

SIBLING RIVALRY Tygra, as we know, is Lion-O’s older brother. However, he is an adopted brother and thus, Lion-O was to be the heir to the throne of Thundera. As they grew up together, Tygra showed more prowess in just about everything and he was the first to lay eyes on Cheetara. But one by one, things seemed to slip right out of Tygra’s grasp and just fall into Lion-O’s lap, Cheetara included. The resentment is obvious to all, but Tygra remains, for the most part, loyal to his brother who is now Lord of the ThunderCats. As they head back to the Elephant village, Tygra recalls when he first met Cheetara and how she was able to join the Clerics with his help. She almost definitely would not have made it without him, yet she pays more attention to Lion-O. It is this, more than anything else, that eats at him. When they reach the village, Grune and the lizards have besieged the village and it is up to the ThunderCats to save them. Lion-O chooses stealth but Tygra wants to attack head on. Regardless of who is right, the innocent must be protected.

RIGHT-MINDED When the ‘Cats see that the village has been taken, the only one who truly seems concerned with the Elephants is WilyKit. Lion-O is worried about Grune getting his hands on the spirit stone for Mumm-Ra; honestly, a valid concern. Tygra does not like Lion-O’s plan and he wants to show him up in front of Cheetara. Just so we are clear, Tygra is supposed to be the more “mature” of the two. The ThunderCats are supposed to be protectors and the only one that is there to actually protect is the youngest of them all. Kit runs right up and orders the lizards to not hurt her friend Aburn. A completely foolish idea and it exposes the whole group, but at least someone had the right idea. Leo showed Lion-O that uniting the animal nations is the only way to stop Mumm-Ra once and for all and he has befriended the Elephants. The thing is, they will not be of much use if they all end up dead.

BETRAYAL When the lizards are driven away, Lion-O prepares to enter the astral plane. Cheetara plants a kiss on his cheek for luck which angers Tygra. Once again looking to show up the young lord, he states that he is going in with Lion-O and enters first. Anet, the tribe leader, holds Lion-O to warn him of his vision where Tygra will betray him in the next day. Lion-O acknowledges Tygra’s jealousy but refuses to believe that his brother would betray him. Aburn warns that Anet’s visions are never wrong. With all that we have seen in this episode, the vision could come true. No one knows what the astral plane will be like, but we know the kind of mindstate Tygra is in. He is angry, confused and he feels betrayed himself. Lion-O had best watch his back, not even mentioning that Mumm-Ra is inside the astral plane with the brothers and he has a way of making people stray from their intended path.

I cannot believe we have another filler episode. There were too many detached story elements to really focus on one. Panthro’s revenge, Lion-O controlling the sword, Tygra’s jealousy, who gets Cheetara and the quest to stop Mumm-Ra. That was the other thing that got me. No one noticed this giant, long-tailed raven fly into the hut. The fight against Mumm-Ra better be good next episode. Either that or Tygra needs to actually join Mumm-Ra because this thing with the two brothers fighting over a girl is stupid. They are both old enough to know the rule of bros before hoes. I hate to diss Cheetara like that but she does not help much. One day she is kissing Lion-O and the next she is resting on Tygra’s chest. The kiddy stuff needs to go in garbage so that we can get back to the action.

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Slick is a man of many hats and can be found all over RAGE Works delivering content to the masses. As Editor at RAGE Works and moderator on live My Take Radio broadcasts Slick ensures everything is running smoothly and everyone is having a good time.